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By George Francis/Scorp News

Nashik, 10 June 2001: The second round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), the WISA’s Taj India Rally was held here on June 9 and 10. At the conclusion of the first leg, Team MRF was sitting pretty, with the top six places safely tucked away. But there was an amazing revelation on Day 2. Six of the seven `Red-and-white’ cars left in the fray were disqualified after a late evening scrutiny session at the completion of the first leg. That left only the No.8 Esteem of Vikram Mathias and co-driver BS Sujith Kumar, flying the Red-and-White Flag.

Organised by the Western India Sports Association (WISA), the rally was held over 424km of broken, rough tarmac, through the plains, several small hamlets and over the dry brown hills that surround the city of Nashik. The first leg comprised 210km with three challenging Special Stages. The second leg, the next day, was a repeat of the previous day’s route and Special Stages.

The event attracted 20 entries from all over the country. Eight of these were from Team MRF and 10 are part of the Rally Star Cup. All the top Indian riders were present, vying for valuable championship points. A couple of new faces, the 18-year-old Philippos Mathai from Delhi and co-driver SN Shanmuga from Bangalore, also took part. Another pair making its INRC debut was Along Aier and Thongde Imlong, who had come all the way from Nagaland to get a feel of the National-level rallying.

The first stage, which ran over 24.12km, passed through a couple of small ghat sections, which threw up some sharp `U’ turns that the drivers had to negotiate. Running over 22.19km, the second Special Stage had a particularly tough section of about 2km which was more rough dirt than tarmac. As for the third Special Stage, which ran over a distance of 16.17km, the first 2km was very rough and prompted the organisers to cancel that particular section.

For the new entrants, the Honda City and Suzuki Balenos, though packed with extra power, things were not very bright. “This route is really bad for the Baleno which is even lower than the Hondas, especially with out new suspension set-up,” said MRF’s Vijayanth Chaudhry.

One the competitors know what they had in store, they were anxious to get on with it. “We fancied our chances in the first and the second stages but were not very hopeful about the third. We wanted to finish, but at the same time, we did not want to leave without a placing,” said PG Abhilash, who along with co-driver, Sangeeth Kumar, competed in an Esteem. The reigning champions, Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar admitted that they had to make up on their championship points as they missed the first round of the INRC at Coimbatore. The duo was also battling for the Asia Zone Rally Championship points at the same event.

The opening day turned out to be a pleasant one, perfect for the start of the first leg. Naren and Ramkumar were the first to be flagged off at the Taj Residency Nashik. But it was Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed who clocked the fastest time in the first Special Stage. Everyone expected the powerful Honda City or Suzuki Baleno to blitz the outdated Esteems, but last year’s sensational find, Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar, had an amazing run.

Naren Kumar and Ramkumar who many expected to be among the forerunners, made some uncharacteristic mistakes and ended the day in the fourth position. For Arjun Balu and co-driver R Kumar, their dismal show of the season continued when they crashed out. PG Abhilash and Sangeeth Kumar had a major crash in the third Special Stage. Fortunately the pair escaped with minor injuries but the car was severely damaged and they had to discontinue.

At the completion of the first leg, the cars returned to the Taj and then the drama unfolded. Technical delegates Asif Haidery had noticed that the MRF cars looked a little low. The cars were summoned for scrutiny. Six of the seven cars were found to be running about 20-25mm lower than the prescribed regulations and were disqualified.

There were only 12 cars left for the second leg. Surprisingly, the fastest time in the first Special Stage was clocked by Sohrab Zorabian and co-driver Raymond Kapadia, competing in the RSC category. The pair drove daringly to accomplish this feat, considereing the fact that they did this without brakes. This took them from the eighth place, at the end of the first leg, to the third spot in the RSC category. But the second leg belonged to Vikram and Sujith all the way. Starting the leg in the lead, the pair lost some time, owing to an electrical problem in the first stage, but they kept their cool and proceeded at a conservative pace in the final two stages, well aware that they could hand on to the lead. “I hardly slept last night. This was the first time we were leading in a rally. Besides there was a lot of pressure on us, being the only MRF car left in the fray,” said an overjoyed Vikram at the finish. Debutants Phillippos Mathai and SN Shanmuga finished in second place. “I came here hoping to at least finish the rally. I never dreamt that I would finish second,” said Mathai, a Class XII student. Pervinder Saundh and former group D motorcycles National champion Paritosh Kohok did extremely well to take the third spot.

In the RSC category, Jiby Maliakkal and his co-driver Rohan Rego drove consistently to finish first. Anil Kumar and Amit Kumar followed in second while Sohrab and Raymond finished third. Vikram and Sujith led the table with 22 points followed by Leelakrishnan and Farooq with 16 points.

Provisional Results (with times after SS6):

Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/BS Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 34minutes, 0seconds); 2. Philippos Matthai/SN Shanmuga (1:40:00); 3. Parvinder Saundh/Paritosh Kohok (1:41:09); 4. V Shamsunder/PV Srinivasa Murhty (1:44:02); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/Rohan Rego (1:47:08).

Rally Star Cup: 1. Jiby Maliakkal/Rohan Rego (1:47:08); 2. Anil Kumar/Amit Kumar (1: 48:52); 3. Shorab Zorabian/Raymond Kapadia (1:49:52); 4. Ashish Doshi/Bhavin Shah (1:52:12); 5. Lohith Urs/MK Bopanna (1:52:13).

Championship standings – after two rounds:

Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/BS Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) 26 points; 2. Jagat Nanjappa and Anita (Team MRF) 15 points; 3. Philippos Mathai/SN Shanmuga, 9 points.

RSC standings: 1. Jiby Maliakkal/ Rohan Rego 14 points; 2. Anil Kumar/ Amit Kumar 8 points; 3. Sohrab/Raymon 7 points.

Pune, 3 Sept 2000: Five-time National champion N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed of Team MRF Limited won the Para-HRA Monsoon Rally 2000, the second round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) and lead a `Red Sweep’ with Team MRF winning all the top six Overall honours, here on Sunday.

Apart from the top-six places in the Overall section, Team MRF also won the top-three positions in the Group `A’ Modified class and also swept the podium in the Group `N’ unmodified production cars class in the gruelling rally held on the outskirts of Pune.

A Motorsports Association of India (MAI) press release said that the Pune rally had received 16 entries from across the country with MRF dominating the entry sheet. Of them, 11 cars finished the two-leg rally run in Special Stage format on dirt road stages which are closed for public. Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed were the overall winners as they defeated their main rivals and reigning National champions Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar, who had to be content with a second place. Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of MRF, won the Production Cars class and also finished third overall. Biking legends, Jagat Nanjappa and Anita came fourth overall and second in Group N class.

On Sunday, Vijayant Choudary (MRF) was the lone drop out while four others dropped out on Saturday during the first leg. Palash Tavaria and Sagar Muthappa of Team MRF, who had pulled out on Saturday rejoined on Sunday’ in the superrally format to have a go at some points for the National Championship.

This year’s MAI calendar has seven rounds and the next round will be in Goa from September 22. The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) which is removed as the ASN by FIA recently, is running their own championship and had completed two rounds at Calcutta and Chennai.

By George Francis

Mumbai, 6 August 2000: Speeds of over 170 kms on smooth roads, long stages (between 18 and 25 kms) and the scenic setting of the Sahyadri ranges made the rally organised by Western India Automobile Association (WISA) a memorable event in the year.

The top eight cars were sponsored by MRF Limited while four Touring Cars of Group A Modified and 11 Production Cars of Group N unmodified got ready for the start in Mumbai. It was a dream come true for Nazir Hoosein of the Himalayan RallyAssociation (HRA) who now runs the Motorsports Association of India (MAI).

The Monsson Rally was the first of a series of seven Rallys to decide the MAI Indian National Champion of the year 2000. Paul Williams, Rally Australia’s experienced official, was brought in as an observer, the idea being that this would also help MAI reach international standards quickly.

This was also the first National Rally in Mumbai in four years. Since only cars with carburettors were allowed, the JK Tyre Rally Team pulled out. It has recently acquiared two of the fuel-injected Mitsubishi Lancers.

The MRF competitors were all too happy to eb in a rally after a seven-month lay off due to FMSCI versus MAI problems.

On August 5, 15 cars were flagged off from the Flora Fountain Circle in downtown Mumbai, at two minute intervals. The first car was driven by National Champion Naren Kumar and navigated by D Ramkumar. The cars ran a 111-km transport sector to touch Wada, the cars were allowed just 10 minutes of service time before the start of Special Stages.

The first Special Stage (SS) was between Parli and Devgaon in the lush forests of the Sahyadri ranges. Naren Kumar flew down this Special Stage, touching a high of over a 1000-kms per hour. But Leelakrishnan, six-times National Champion, had to pull out soon after this stage began due to gear-box failure.

After a 20-minute service stop at Devgaon, the rallyists proceeded to do the Khodala Devgaon second Specioal Stage of the rally. After all the carshad lined up, a Maharashtra State Transport bus and two jeeps carrying local villagers, requested to be allowed to pass. “We had to allow them to go, to maintain a good relationship. After all, our rally has to pass their villages,” said Nazir Hoosein. “Of course, we could have avoided this, if we had given enough prior notice,” he added.

In fact, the MAI had distributed school books to all the kids in the various villages through which the rally ran. THey had also picked up willing lads in the villages, and made them `spectator control’ and `crowd control’ Marshals.

Special Stage two started 30 minutes late, and the drivers `went flat out’ touching speeds of over 130 kmph at many places, sliding through the bends and curves, to reach Devgaon for the next 20-minute service.

Special Stage 3 between Devgaon and Taj Residency, Nashik, was the dream stage for the Speedsters. The 25.60km stage, the longest in the rally, was spread over green meadows and had all what the daredevils asked for, long straights, fast turns, crests which disguised the oncoming bends and simply `flat out’ terrain.

Rallyists touched speeds of over 170 kmph. Rabbi Madan and Abhishek Datt, in a black Esteeem, missed a turn after a crest, flew into a meadow, flipped and pulled out. AD Jamoshedji and ‘sohrab Zorabian, in the lone Maruti Gypsy (in the Esteem-filled rally), withdrew due to mechanical problems. A curt Madan said: “Our flip was a great experience. I hope you also have one soon.”

“We had to trust our navigators full and full,” said Naren Kumar, at the end of Leg 1, which he led. “It is great fun to go over a crest, not sure what is in store for you on the other side.  Only your navigators’ call can help and save you,” he added.

“It was phenomenal to drive,” said Vikram Mathias, who was on his maiden rally. Running third in Group N, at the end of Leg 1, Vikram was driving his heart out. Sunil Shetty, his navigator, said: “I enjoyed the run every bit.”

“It was just too good,” said Karanddep Singh, navigated by Jaidas Menon, from TEam MRF, who proved his mettle by leading the Group N cars. The day ended at the Taj Residency at Nashik.

The Super Rally format, now being followed in the Indian rallys, allows a competitor who pulled out of a leg, to run the other leg/legs of the event, to gain points for the championship. Further, it also stipulates that 80 per cent of any rally should be run either one of the three terrains, namely, dirt, gravel or tarmac, to avoid unnecessary tyre changes. In keeping with the format, Leelakrishnan and Jamshedji decided to participate in Leg 2.

It was wake up call at 4 am for the rallyists on August 6, as the second leg was to be flagged off at 6 am. After 62 kms of transport to Devgaon, the rallyists took a 10-minute service break before going into Special Stage 4.

The Devgaon-Mokhada stage of over 25-km which was Special Stage 4 was reveresed as the Mokhada-Devgaon sector for Special Stage 5.

The Group N National Champion driver of Team MRF, Vijayant Chowdhry of Chandigarh and Shivu Shivappa of Bangalore would not forget Special Stage 4 for life. “We were driving at 140-kmph and Vijayant was fully on the gas (accelerator) and we were approaching an `easy left’. I really do not know what happened. Suddenly, Vijayant started anti-locking the steering and correcting. The car was now off the road. We went down the road, rolled into a paddy field, and somehow flew out and jammed into a tree,” said a shaken Shivappa.

Both Vijayant and Shivu were badly shaken, but not seriously injured. This stage also saw the end of Vikram Mathias’ challenge as he missed a call, and went off the road on an easy right and landed in the meadow.

The rest of the cars continued their journey to the fifth Special Satge followed by the final stage between Khodala and Bombay service. Then followed the treacherous 128-km journey on the Nashik-Mumbai highway to finish the event at the Flora Fountain in Mumbai. With only on major team, Team MRF, participating, post-event srutiny became a simple affair.

VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar won the Overall and Group A top spots, followed by Arjun Balu and KR Kmar. Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep Rao finished third in Group A to make it a 1-2 for MRF.

The Group N victory went to Karandeep Singh and Jaidas Menon. They were followed by Jagat Nanjappa and Anita Nanjappa, the husband-wife duo. While the first two placings in the Group went to MRF, the third spot went to a privateer Vikram Suhrem and BS Sujith Kumar.

Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 27 minutes, 33 seconds); 2. Arjun Balu/KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1: 28:16); 3. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep Rao (1:29:06); 4. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:31:42); 5. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita (1:33:07).

Production Cars (Group N) Unmodified: 1. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:31:42); 2. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita (1:33:07); 3. Vikram Suhram/BS Sujith Kumar (Privateer) (1:37:07); 4. Navaz Bathena/Sherin Balachander (1:38:43); 5. Satyan Kochar./Alistair Woodham (Privateer) (1:41:13).

Touring Cars (Group A) Modified cars: 1. VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1: 27: 33); 2. Arjun Balu/KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1: 28:16); 3. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep Rao (1: 29:06);

Hyderabad, 13 Dec 1999: Coimbatore duo, talented Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy pipped compatriots and strong contenders Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar by a narrow margin of five seconds to clinch the Deccan Rally 1999, the eighth and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship but Naren and Ram managed to top the National Championship table and won the National Crown for 1999.

Sagar Muthappa and navigator Sandeep Rao clocking 2hours, 24min, 55sec to edge out Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon by 11 second in the Group N class.

Rally Report by Scorp News:

By George Francis

Hyderabad, 13 Dec 1999: Thundering through the dusty dirt roads of Ranga Reddy district, about 100km from here, Team MRF clinched the Overall Group A Modified Class and Group N Un-Modified Class National Championship titles for the Year 1999.

The 187-km Deccan Rally, with 128 km of Special Stages (the rest were transport stages), was organised by Andhra Pradesh Motor Sports Club (APMSC), which was running the 14th edition of the event. The Deccan Rally is the eighth and final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars 1999, which decides both the Drivers’ and Navigators’ titles.

The hard-working APMSC went through the usual difficulties of not finding any major sponsor. There was JK Tyres offering `Sticker’ sponsorship, the GVK group putting up the FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) officials in the hotels. It was learnt that every major APMSC member chipped in with Rs10,000 to ensure the proper run of the rally.

The organisers after locating two sections of the Special Stages, ran both the stages, thrice in the forward direction and thrice in the reverse direction, to make upo the necessary stage section. Vinay Asar, APMSC’s live-wire and Clerk of the Course (CoC), was hospitalised soon after the event, with a hemorrhage. He is now fine and recovering after undergoing a surgery.

The JK Tyre Rally team, the `go-getters’ in Indian Motorsport, received a boost before the Deccan Rally, re-appealing on the Steward’s verdict on infringement of technical regulations in the South India Rally 1999. They won the review, which added a very valuable 37.5 points to anchorman Hari Singh and Gurunder Singh Mann’s Overall Championship points.

Going back to details of the appeal, Team MRF’s Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan had appealed to the Stewards of the South India Rally, against certain technical infringements on the JK Cars driven by Hari Singh and Karamjit Singh. The appeal was upheld and Hari and Karamjit were excluded from the Rally results. Arjun Balu of Team MRF was pronounced the winner. The JK Tyre Rally team filed a review petition, citing the fact that Hari Singh and Karamjit Singh were not given a personal hearing. The verdict came up just before the final rally of the year.

While Hari Singh gained valuable points for the Championship, Malaysian Karamjit Singh, the 1997 Group N Pan Pacific Champion, too benefitted. Team JK Tyres, in the reckoning for the National title Overall and Group A, now led the points table with Manik Raikhy leading the field. Though MRF won the Group N title in Bangalore, Manik still maintained his lead.

When the Deccan Rally 1999 was flagged off from `Runaway 9′, a karting track, it was advantage JK Tyres. Three-time National champion Hari Singh led the Overall drivers and Group A drivers’ championship with 101-50 points. Similarly, his schoolmate Gurinder Singh Mann, led the Overall and Group A Navigators’ Championships with 101-50 points. Next in the reckoning was Team MRF’s Naren Kumar with 90 points and his navigator D Ramkumar was in a similar position in the Navigators’ Championship. Third in the competition was Arjun Balu, also of Team MRF, and his navigatore Kumar Ramaswamy.

In the Group N category, Team JK Tyre’s Manik Raikhy was ahead in the drivers and P Vivekanandan in the Navigators’ Championships. In the second place were driver Vijayant Chaudhry and co-driver Jaidas Menon of Team MRF. Sagar Muthappa, Karandip Singh and Jagat Nanjappa, all drivers from MRF, had an outside chance, with their respective navigators Sandeep S Rao, MK Chander and Anita Nanjappa.

Expectations were high in the JK camp, as they had a fine chance to pip MRF Limited at the post. The compulsory `recee’ (reconaissance) to familiarise the `dare devils’ with the rally route, was held on December 10. It was followed by the pre-event vehicle scrutiny and `drivers briefing’ on the 11th.

Hardly 22 cars lined up for the start and only 10 completed the rally. Out of the 22 cars, seven were from MRF, six from JK, two from Chettinad Sporting and three were seven private teams. That there were only seven Group A entries, proved the popularity of the Group N category where it is less costly to prepare a car.

Deccan Rally, the final leg of the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars, was flagged off at 7 am on Dec 12. The two basic stages comprised dirt roads. With the stages being tight, the onus was on the drivers and the navigators to work out a proper strategy.

Hari Singh and Gurunder Singh Mann of the JK Tyres Rally team were the first to be flagged off. In the very first Special Stage, Hari’s car was losing power, his drive shaft was gone, while Karamjit and Manik Raikhy were moving well.

But as the day progressed, there was bad news for MRF as well, as its prime tuner and six-time National Champion N Leelakrishnan pulled out due to technical problems on his Esteem. There were more disasers. The 1997 Group N Pan Pacific Champion, JK’s Karamjit Singh, blew his Esteem engine and the 1997 Group N National Champion Manik Raikhy, again JK, toppled, breaking his Esteem’s suspension.

With the major JK Tyre Rally team contenders having pulled out, Team MRF Tyres, cruised through to win the Castrol National Rally Championship. Overall land Group A driver Naren Kumar and Group A Navigator D Ramkumar and teammates Vijayant Choudhry and co-driver Jaidas Menon won the titles.

The Rally brought into focus two new winners. Team MRF’s Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy took the Overall and Group A title. They were followed by Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar. Team MRF’s Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao, the 1998 Group N National Champions, won the Group N category in the Deccan Rally, finishing after five years of DNFs (Did Not Finish) in the past.

“We were determined to finish the Deccan Rally this year. The last five times we competed here, we bowed out either due to technical reasons or crashes. We are highly pleased to finish this event and glad that we also won the Group N class,” said Sagar Muthappa, an Engineer by profession.

The soft spoken and modest Arjun Balu and navigator Kumar Ramaswamy proved that they are strong contenders for the Championship. Arjun Balu, who has a `clean driving style’ had been very unlucky in the past, having to drop out of rally after gaining the lead. His performance during the year has been quite consistent, and the next season could well prove his best one. “We are looking towards the next season,” said Arjun and Kumar, in unision.

The run-up to the National titles has not been easy for Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar and Vijayant Choudhry and Jaidas Menon. Every single rally has seen hectic, nail-biting competition between JK and MRF. JK’s import of suspension specialist Brian Palmer, and Karamjit Singh, did provide a higher level of competition. Ace Tuner for MRF Tyres N Leelakrishnan had said in 1998, “Our advantage has been our stronger suspensions.” The strengthening of the JK cars suspensions with rally specialist Brian, provided theneeded `strength to fight’.

Naren Kumar, who has just completed his Business Management studies in Australia, from where he used to fly in for the National Rallys, said: “I am delighted to win the National Title now. I have been chasing the Championship for the past five years, and have seen a downward trend in the sport during these years. The competition has dwindled, with participation reducing every year.”

Naren has the distinction of winning the tough and dicey Karnataka 1000 Rally in his maiden year in Motorsports, in a Group N un-modified car. It was that victory, where he won against many Group A contenders (modified cars) that sounded a warning to the rallying fraternity, about the entry of this young lad.

“Indian motorsports is suffering because there is no entry-level class. There are hardly four to five competitors in this sport, who are entering every rally, in the newcomers category. What we need is a cheaper class like a Marut Gypsy Group N, which would cost hardly 1-5 lakh to participate in all the rallies in a season. The sponsors would watch the performance of these newcomers and finally pick them up in their teams. Karting is the solution for getting more curcuit racers. A cheap entry level class, which will be the stepping stone, is the only way the sport can improve,” quipped Naren Kumar, who was crowned as the Champion for 1999.

In fact, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), has introduced two new championships in 1999, the Novice and the un-seeded class, to encourage newcomers. The onus now on the FMSCI, to make the two classes affordable, by running them with cheaper vehicle preparation possibilities.

Naren, who should be getting into business soon, says, about his plans for the new Millennium. “I would like to win the National title many more times and participate in the international rallies, at least in the far east or in Malaysia.” International participation would give Naren Kumar a better car, and a higher level of competition, and maybe, MNC sponsorships which could give India the necessary leap into International rallying. “The participation of Karamjit Singh from Malaysia has definitely brought in more competition into Indian rallying. But for that, I have been rallying with the same set of competitors for the past five years. Of course, the cars and competitors have improved immensely, but we need more competition if we want to take Indian motorsports to new heights,” he concluded.

Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2hours, 24minutes, 40seconds); 2. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF)(2:24:45); 3. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (Team MRF) (2:24:55); 4. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (2:25:06); 5. Vijayant Chaudhry. MK Chander (2:32:26).

Group A: 1. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2:24:40); 2. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (2:24:45); 3. G Ravindra Mudiraj/ CH Sai Giridhar (3:28:27).

Group N: 1. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (2:24:55); 2. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon ( 2:25:06); 3. Vijayant Chaudhry. MK Chander (2:32:26); 4. Navaz Bathena/ Sherin Balachandran (Chettinad Sporting) (2:36:25); 5. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad Sporting) 2:38:25…

(Updated 2020 to support: INRC winners: Hall of fame; Official Results released by VS Shriakant on 17th Dec 1999)